


Ain't no princess in this tower

by atomicmuffin



Category: Naruto
Genre: Accidental Sexism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Tenten (Naruto), Character Development, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Female Friendship, Gen, Humor, Lee just tries his best, Serious Injuries, Sexism, Tenten-centric, Unreliable Narrator, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 01:45:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16075751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atomicmuffin/pseuds/atomicmuffin
Summary: Boys are idiots. Ninja boys are idiots with deadly weapons, and it's the kunoichi's privilege and duty to call them out on their bullshit.Or: how Tenten becomes the Konoha equivalent of a coach for kunoichi completely on accident, mostly because of her pathological inability to let shit go.





	Ain't no princess in this tower

**Author's Note:**

> Note: English is not my first language. As usual, I tried my best! The amazing RavenShira and starlineshine betaed this baby, and I am extremely grateful to them^^
> 
> Timeset: After Tsunade becomes Hokage. This is an AU where Sasuke doesn't defect immediately. For Plot Reasons. Let's assume the Sound Four got lost in the way and it took them six months to reach Konoha.
> 
> Warning: non-graphic injuries, burn

At this point, Konoha Hospital and Tenten are so deeply acquainted her butt knows every single chair of every single waiting room. This truth may sound surprising considering she has required the services of a doctor an exact number of three times: once to get her appendix removed, another for her pre-graduation check up, and the last because her teammate had gone 'overboard' and closed all the chakra points of her right arm. Less so when you take into account the fact Tenten is a good teammate and Lee has needed medical assistance at least eighteen times this year alone. Two surgeries, three hospitalizations and  _thirteen trips to the emergency room_. Of course, Tenten, being the gullible idiot that she is, has been there for practically every single one of them. She's on a first name basis with most of the medical staff by now. They exchange eye rolls of connivance each time Team Nine shows up with a sheepish Lee limping behind, or passed out in Gai's arms.

(There was also that one time because of Gaara but. They don't talk about that.)

So waiting rooms. Tenten knows them. Usually Gai-sensei waits with her, both a blessing and a curse, as the Green Beast of Konoha is equally entertaining and embarrassing. Today he had a jonin meeting to attend and encouraged them to keep up with their diligent training in his absence. Lee naturally interpreted that statement as an admonition, which he righted by doing two thousand push ups on his thumbs. Thumbs weren't devised for the objective of doing push up on them at all, even less two thousands of them, one might object. And one might be right. Tenten wouldn't be tapping her foot irritatedly on the lino floor otherwise. She told him, Lee, two thousand is just asking too much of your hand bones, two hundred is a reasonable number, ya know?

And did he listen to her very sound advice?  _Obviously not_. As a result, one broken bone, a concussion courtesy of his graceful fall, and a free ticket to ER.

Luckily Tenten has come prepared. She always carries a book or something to occupy herself. Three years old civilian fashion mags are only amusing to read the first five times; after that it's just tedious. The only other reading available are health flyers and Tenten already knows those by heart. She can recite the concussion surveillance rules in her sleep. Naturally, Lee is a serial concusser, and who else is going to watch over him when Sensei is busy doing jonin stuff? Neji? Pff. As if. Neji has a very loose concept of teamwork and it certainly does not involve checking up on 'stupid and worthless idiot's state of consciousness every hour. He'd rather brood and say something mocking instead, which, as everyone knows, is extremely helpful and constructive.

So maybe Tenten isn't in a very generous mood right now. Bite her. Actually don't. You never know with Konoha shinobi; they might actually go for it.

Considering the frankly alarming number of shinobi in need of medical assistance, Tenten rarely has the waiting room for herself. Usually her fellow waiting buddies subconsciously agree to look as emotionless as possible. Tenten calls it the 'I'm too cool to give a fuck' game. She aces at that game.

Today, there is only a girl already sitting when Tenten shows up, and clearly she has never heard of the game. Her name is Sakura, which Tenten only remembers because pink hair tends to be rather noticeable and Lee waxes awkward poetry about it just about every week.

She also looks positively miserable and although pep talk is the last thing Tenten wants to do right now, she also has nothing better to do and a fucking bleeding heart.

So she sits next to Sakura and she says, "Wassup girl?"

Sakura blinks. Surprise is plainly displayed on her face. For fuck's sake, who is teaching this kid and why haven't they told their student about the basics of masking one's emotions. That's just so embarrassing to witness okay.

"... Oh?" The girl's voice quivers as if she's going to burst out crying anytime now. "Hello...err...Tenten-san?"

She has that look of recognition in her eyes. The one that screams, 'Oh that's the girl who lost so pathetically at the Chuunin Exams.' The one that whispers, 'Well, what can you expect from a clanless girl, right?' Tenten knows that look  _very well_. Whatever, she isn't still bitter about that or anything. She doesn't think of Temari of the Sand's smug face when she throws a kunai, doesn't stay awake remembering the crushing feeling of public defeat, nope,  _not at all_.

At least she's not doing push up on her thumbs. She's processing her humiliation healthily, plotting long term revenge like every shinobi worth their salt ought to, unlike Lee, who's just…pushing his body to its last retranchements. Just after Tsunade-sama fixed him up too, the inconsiderate fool. She gets it, he needs to prove to himself that his body is still his, but that's not an excuse to be a freaking idiot about it.

The point is, Tenten is doing great, _thank you very much_. "Yep! You're Sakura, right?"

"Yes? Yes, I am…"

Oh hell, she's staring at her knees now. That won't do at all. "So watcha doing here?"

Tenten realizes as she speaks that someone might be dying. She really hopes someone isn't dying. Hospitals just suck the worst. Even small talk is potential disaster material.

"It's… It's Sasuke-kun…" Sakura valiantly fights the urge to cry.

Tenten shouldn't be relieved, she really shouldn't. The Uchiha is one of her comrades. He's also a little shit, but that never stopped Tenten from caring anyway.

"He got burnt during training…"

"How burnt are we talking about?" Tenten asks as she clasps the pink-haired girl's shoulder. "Slightly rosy burnt or roasted black burnt?"

Okay, Tenten really shouldn't be making jokes about possibly fatal injuries, but you don't spend as much time as she does in ER without learning how to chill on wounds and diseases. The people around here have a  _sick_ kind of humor… Sick, get it? Because of…oh, nevermind.

"... Red?" Sakura answers, astonished at Tenten's flippant attitude. "On the arm. The nurse said he would be fine, but…"

"I'm sure he will be fine" Tenten says, smiling comfortingly. Nurses around here don't make statements like that unless they are, at the very least, 99% sure of themselves.

"Yeah." Sakura seems a tiny bit less miserable. "Sasuke-kun is strong, he's seen worse…"

Do not roll your eyes, Tenten. Let's let twelve year old girls be twelve years old girls with embarrassing crushes they will deeply regret later. Also, she's got a point. Sasuke has seen way worse. Speaking of, Uchiha's are fire jutsu specialists, right? Tenten is smelling potentially embarrassing training stories here. She's got incredible flair for potentially embarrassing training stories. Experience talking.

"Let me guess, he katon-ed himself!" Tenten can't keep the amusement out of her voice. To be honest, she barely tries.

"He didn't!" Sakura leaps to her crush's defence by automatism, before deflating in front of Tenten's wiggling eyebrows. "It was an accident…"

"He totally did, and you're absolutely allowed to make fun of him." She pats her new 'my teammate is so dumb' buddy. "Actually, you  _should_  make fun of him. How else is he going to learn, hm?"

Not that it works for Tenten and her own crew of dumbasses, but hope springs eternal. Rightful mockery might actually be an effective dissuative method for Uchiha Better Than You Sasuke. And if it isn't, well, at least it's fun, and girls who are hanging in the ER waiting room at 10 am deserve to have fun. "C'mon girl. Tell me all about your dumb teammate, and I'll tell you about mine. We can trashtalk them while we wait."

Sakura bites her bottom lip, visibly hesitating between blind loyalty to her Sasuke-kun and the natural urge to vent to a willing ear. The venting urge wins. "I told him not to use his fire jutsu!"

She stops, horrified at her own outburst. Tenten is not going to let her censure herself when she's well on her way to let it out. She asks pointedly, "Of course you did. But did he listen?"

"NO!" Sakura suddenly fires up, and that's it, that's the girl who kicked the Yamanaka heiress out of her mind thanks to sheer determination and bitter spite. "I told him not to use his katon-jutsu next to flammable gas  _and he still did it!_ "

Okay. This is prime comedy material right there. Tenten's not even angry at Lee anymore for ruining her morning with his bone-breaking and tragically avoidable shenanigans. "Oh my god. That's just common sense though."

"YES EXACTLY! He just  _hun-ed_ at me! Like he does all the time! I was just trying to help him! How fair is that?"

"Totally unfair!" Tenten agrees sincerely. But, ya know.  _Boys_. Common sense is a very foreign concept to them. She's pretty sure Lee hasn't even heard of it. He's lucky Tenten likes him anyway.

"Yeah, none of this would have happened if he had  _listened to me for once_ ," Sakura grumbles darkly to herself, and Tenten is very happy she took the initiative to talk to her. First because Team Seven's kunoichi clearly needed the outlet and also because she's bloody hilarious under those airs of being a proper girl she's trying to pull of, for some mysterious reason.

"Story of my life, dude," Tenten says as she squeezes her shoulder. "Story of my life. Boys are just  _so_  stupid."

Unfortunately, that seems to be the wrong thing to say, as the younger girl wilts with uncalled for embarrassment. She says, almost defensively, "Sasuke-kun isn't stupid."

"He sure was today," she snorts. "Repeat after me: Sasuke-kun acted like a complete moron today."

"Tenten-san…" Sakura avoids her insistent glare.

Tenten will have none of that crap, though. It needs to be said. Girls can't let their teammates get away with that kind of bullshit. She catches Sakura's chin and forces her to look at her. "Repeat after me. Sasuke-kun acted like a complete moron today."

"Sasuke acted like a complete moron today?" she repeats hesitantly, with the air of someone only complying in order not to spook the creepy person talking to them.

"Good. But say it like you mean it. C'mon,  _you so told_   _him_ , right?

"I did," Sakura says, more assuredly. "Sasuke-kun acted like a complete moron today."

"That's right he did. Louder now."

"Sasuke-kun acted like a complete moron today!"

"LOUDER!"

"SASUKE-KUN ACTED LIKE A COMPLETE MORON TODAY!"

"Exactly! He got hurt and he had it coming!"

"HE GOT HURT AND HE HAD IT COMING!"

So maybe Tenten may be more influenced by her team's yelling tendencies than she thought. Sue her. "I am in no way responsible for my teammate's foolishness!"

"I AM IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR MY TEAMMATE'S FOOLISHNESS!" Sakura screamed, her face red with vindictive fury.

"Ahem." A nurse, Akido-san, if Tenten recalls correctly, sticks her head through the doorway. "Tenten-chan. What are you doing."

Oh. Good thing she's actually on good terms with most the medical staff because that one might be hard to explain away. Luckily, she knows for a fact this particular nurse likes to sing very loudly when she works, so they should be in the clear.

"Sorry, Akido-san!" Tenten chirps as Sakura hides her head behind her hands and bends on her seat in a vain attempt to make herself look smaller. "We got a bit enthusiastic over here. It won't happen again!"

"Alright…" Akido-san smiles septically at them. "Lee-kun is enough enthusiasm for the rest of us, so I must ask you to keep it down."

"Sure thing." She grins sheepishly. "My bad."

"Oh my god," the moan coming underneath the pink-haired head is barely audible. Tenten pats her back comfortingly. At some point the poor girl will have to forget the 'this is so embarrassing why are you like this everyone is watching us I want to disappear' voice and learn to embrace the chaos. Especially with a team like that. A desperate attention seeker, an emo avenger and a nutcase with a tragic background story. With allies like that, who even needs enemies?

Sakura should get rid of that self-consciousness of hers pronto. God knows that's what Tenten did and she's perfectly sane. More or less. For a given value of sane. The point is, Tenten is  _functional_ , which is more than the dunderheads she calls teammates can pretend.

"Anyway. Lee-kun is ready to see you," the nurse keeps going as if she has heard nothing anormal, a necessary mindset to work in ER, or with shinobi in general. "Please convince him not to come back too soon, Tenten-chan."

"You ask too much of me, Akido-san!" she chuckles, rising up from her seat and gathering her stuff with lightning speed. "Well, a pleasure to meet you, Sakura-san! I'm sure Sasuke-kun will be just fine. You know where to find me if you need to talk again, okay?"

She takes the responding whimper as a positive reply, and she's right to do so since Sakura shows up at her door less than a week later, looking exhausted and ready to go either into a melancholic depression or on a ruthless killing spree.

Oh joy. She did ask for it. Fuck her bleeding heart.

.  
.

Tenten's mother always says a problem looks less dire with a cup of tea between your hands. Personally, she fails to see how it can solve any problem, but at that point she's willing to try just about everything. So Tenten invites Sakura to come in, makes her sit and puts a steaming cup in front of her. Sakura does look a little bit better with something else to focus on than her own thoughts. Good thinking, mother.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this," Sakura eventually mumbles after taking a careful sip. "I didn't know who else to turn to."

"Nah, it's fine," Tenten cheerfully replies as she searches in the cupboard for the biscuit box. "I don't mind the company. You can tell me what's bothering you. It's no trouble at all."

"It's...Sasuke-kun and Naruto. They just. Won't. Stop. Fighting. All the time," Sakura confesses between gritted teeth.

Ah. Tenten has been there—still kind of is, actually. But it used to be far worse before Neji took the beating of his lifetime and Lee almost lost his chance to become a ninja. They're still vindictive little shits to each other, but at least now they're constructive about it. Neji has learnt to accept Lee is a loser, but a loser with potential; Lee has learnt to chill about his epic rival and sadly one-sided bromance. A tiny bit. As much as Lee can be chill. "Yeah?"

"I mean, it's nothing new, but they got so much worse since the Chuunin Exams. I thought we had actually made progress… But Sasuke is even angrier than usual…and he keeps trying to fight with Naruto…and Naruto always goes for it…"

"Hm. Makes you want to knock their empty heads together, right?" Tenten muses out loud as she takes a bite of her biscuit.

"Yes! No!" Sakura stops for a moment, looking lost and confused. "I don't know? I just want them to stop fighting so much. We're supposed to be  _a team_."

Yes, well. It's sad, but sometimes teams just don't work out. Usually shared trauma is enough to bond people together, even if they have little in common, but clearly the system isn't foolproof. Sometimes Tenten wonders if Team 9 is a team at all, instead of a duo of taijutsu nutcases, a bitter clan prodigy and a clanless, pathetic embryo of a kunoichi thrown together. It's getting better though.

To get back to Team Seven, as far as Tenten knows, Sasuke is the main problem. People who think only of their own advancement make terrible teammates. Admittedly Naruto isn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the armory, but at least he's trying, and Sakura has somewhat calmed down on her fangirling obsessions.

"I think you should beat up Sasuke. For real." Tenten perks up. It may sounds a little crazy, but the more she thinks about it, the more it makes sense. "Yep. He's never going to respect you otherwise. He seems like  _that_ kind of guy, ya know?"

Sakura gapes at her incredulously. "Beat... _Sasuke-kun_? I can't do that!"

"Why not?" It's not like Tenten ever beat Neji herself, but at least she's making a honest attempt at it. She's getting closer, she can tell. She made him sweat last time before he knocked the hell out of her. He even nodded at her as he dramatically stormed out. So. Progress.

"Because he's Sasuke-kun? He's so strong!" Sakura shakes her head frenetically. "And I'm just..me."

"For fuck's sake, what's with that attitude?" Tenten frowns with sincere indignation.

She eyes the unpractical red dress, the smooth hands, the noodle arms and untrained sticks she called legs. Alright, Sakura sure isn't going to beat anyone with that half-starving body of hers. Yet, that's not even the real issue.

The real issue is that Haruno Sakura is completely missing the point. She's never going to get anywhere with that defeated outtake on her own skills. A kunoichi must use anything she's got and then more, because life sure isn't going to give her shit for free. The life of a shinobi is hard, the life of a kunoichi even harder. If Sakura isn't ready to work past her limits and give it her best, then she should just retire before she gets herself killed, or worse. Sure, she's not worth much right now, but she's got  _potential._ Seriously, what is her jonin-sensei even doing? Okay, Hatake-san's got other eggs in his basket, but he shouldn't ignore one of his students just because she's not the Last Uchiha or...whatever Uzumaki is.

"Do you want to become stronger, yes or no?"

"... Yes?" Sakura blinks up, hesitantly and hopefully.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that," Tenten raises a mocking eyebrow mercilessly. "I said, DO YOU WANT TO BECOME STRONGER?"

Sakura's spine snaps straight, her green eyes lighting up with the familiar flame of determination. Honestly, what's up with this girl's mental stability? She jumps from meek to vicious in a heartbeat. "FUCK YES."

"That's the spirit! Are you ready to train until you pass out? To spend hours studying until you can't see straight? To cry tears of blood and bath in the tears of your enemies?" Tenten hits the table with her fist as Sakura visibly steams with resentful enthusiasm. She's starting to get why Gai-sensei is so hyped up about his 'young and hip students.' Mentoring is kind of fun.

"YES! BRING IT, SHANNARO!"

And so Tenten brings it.

.  
.

"Yo, sensei."

"Tenten! My fierce flower, my dedicated student!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. I was wondering if I could borrow those taijutsu beginners books once more, you know, the ones you lent to me last year?"

"Of course! I would be delighted to encourage you on your way to academic pursuit! May I ask why you need them? Considering your advancement in the taijutsu arts, I have other scrolls more appropriate to your current level, if you prefer!"

"They are not for me. I'm helping out a friend. I hope you don't mind?"

"MY DYNAMIC PUPIL I AM SO PROUD! YOUR YOUTHFULNESS OUTSHINES US ALL! SUCH PASSION! SUCH KINDNESS!"

"Okay, that's great, but I'm leaving now. Thanks, Gai-sensei. Oh, and...if you see your 'eternal rival,' you can tell him that if there's a contest for best teacher, you win hands down."

"... TENTEN!"

"And now you're crying. Time to get out of here for real. SENSEI WE SAID NO HUGS IN PUBLIC! WE HAD A DEAL!"

.  
.

She was mistaken. Mentoring is not 'kind of fun.' Mentoring is the fucking best. The friendly spring sun warms her skin and a gentle breeze cools it off. She's running and she's yelling and it's  _awesome_. "Faster Sakura, FASTER! I know ancient turtles who run faster than you do!"

Which technically is the entire truth. What she's not saying is that those turtles are her sensei's summons and she knows from first-hand experience they run faster than  _anyone_ when they feel like it. What Sakura doesn't know can't hurt her, though.

Usually direct confrontation is good enough to motivate Tenten's...student? Pupil? Kouhai? Let's go with kouhai. This time, however, Sakura's competitiveness fails to raise the bait. She slows down on the road, her breathing uneven and her face a healthy but ungraceful deep red. "... I…can't… No more…"

"Oh, c'mon! We've barely run for ten kilometers! That's nothing. And we're so close, too! I promised I'd treat you to that nice dango place I know." Tenten loudly smacks the pink-haired kunoichi's bowed back.

"Ten kilometers…is a lot," Sakura protests as she flicks Tenten's hand away and leans against a tree. "Especially with…this damn…fucking heavy bag…you forced on me!"

Okay, first of all, ten kilometers is akin to a pleasant stroll for Team Nine. And Tenten had to deliver a batch of weapons in her mother's stead to their partner in Raishi, so she thought she could hit two stones at once. A nice training start to get back into shape, or just get  _into_  shape, in Sakura's case.

Admittedly, Tenten may or may not not have a reliable scale for normality anymore. Gai-sensei's antics would do that to a person. "Think of the positive! When we run back to Konoha, you won't have to carry the bag!"

The glare Sakura sends her way can't seem to decide between resentment and horror. "I need…a break."

Alright. Unlike the crazy dudes she usually trains with, Tenten can actually be reasonable every once in a while. Occasionally. It's happened before away. "Fine," she agrees with a thumb up. "... Target practice break?"

"THAT'S NOT A BREAK! I WANT A NORMAL BREAK!"

"Hey, people who have the energy to yell have the energy to run," Tenten points out factually.

Sakura isn't a huge fan of facts right now, clearly. "I'm going to sit here. And  _rest_. You're familiar with the concept, I reckon?

Looks like someone got their sarcastic and sassy kunoichi mode activated. It really is funny as hell to mentor little shits. Tenten's genuinely having the time of her life. "I have heard of it. Hobby of the weaklings, right?"

"FOR REAL I'M SITTING AND YOU CAN'T MAKE ME MOVE!" Sakura abandons the derision entirely to focus on the rage as she crosses her arms under her breasts and sends a defiant glare at Tenten.

Considering who her teacher and teammate are, Tenten is actually quite knowledgeable regarding challenges. Everything is a pretext to 'friendly youthful competition' within Team Nine, from push ups to flower arrangements (fun fact, Lee is surprisingly skilled at ikebana) passing through the ever classic pissing contest (which Tenten wins all the time, obviously. Kunoichi trade secret).

Basically,  _everything_  is an excuse for competition. Now, Tenten isn't nearly as fanatic as her teammates, but she can recognize a challenge when she hears one.

And this right now? Is definitely a  _challenge_. Of course Tenten has to reply accordingly. What will Gai-sensei say if she doesn't?

By that logic, throwing multiple kunai in Sakura's direction is not only fair game, it's also expected and warranted.

"OH MY GOD SEMPAI WHAT YOU DOING," Sakura screams, jumping on her feet and dodging the blades. Oh look at that! Nice reflexes! She's gotten so much better! Tenten is legit proud here.

"You're going in the wrong direction, Sakura-chan!" Tenten brightly cackles at her back. "You need to pay more attention to your surroundings!"

Maybe the cackle is a bit too much. Her bad. She's not taking it back though. Evil cackle and friendly encouragements are her new coaching brand.

"GO GO GO Sakura! Run as if you have the devil on your tail! Run as if you have  _Lee_ on your tail!"

She doesn't go as far as to throw the weapon filled bag back on Sakura's shoulders. Contrary to common opinion, Tenten isn't actually a sadistic monster.

Well. It's up to debate, she supposes.

.  
.

"Look, Lee, buddy. I know you don't mean to be rude, but you do realize girls are their own person, right?"

"Tenten! Of course I do! I only have the utmost respect of my kunoichi comrades! Did I do something to offend you? Let me atone for—"

"You stay right here. We're not done talking. I meant all women in general, but I'll take it. So when a girl tells you no, _she_   _actually means no_. Are you following?"

"... Yes? Gai-sensei says consent is very important!"

"... I don't want to know when this came up, but yes, exactly. So, hypothetically, if you were to ask a girl out, and she said no, what would you do?"

"I would endeavor to convince her otherwise, respectfully and youthfully!"

"No, Lee,  _no_. That's not what consent  _means_. I'm cancelling the entire operation; clearly you're not ready yet. Aaaand she's here…"

"Tenten, a fierce yet graceful flower like yourself shouldn't swear. OH SAKURA-CHAN MY BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOM PLEASE GO OUT WITH…"

"SHANNARO!"

"Oh, well. That works, too. Beating up unwanted suitors counts as training, right? Right."

.

.

Tenten's mother is a civilian. A civilian that makes weapons and armors for a living and knows more on kunai or katana than most shinobi themselves, but a civilian nonetheless. She doesn't really understand her daughter's choice of career. It never stopped her from supporting her reckless offspring anyway. When asked, she says, 'Look, you can make the choice to prioritize your kid's safety over their happiness, and that's a fair decision. I chose otherwise, and that's fair, too.' Or she might just storm out. One never knows with her.

Sakura's mother is very different from Tenten's. She wears civilian clothes, adorns her skin with civilian jewelry and makeup, arranges her hair into a needlessly complicated civilian bun. But the smile? Empty, unfriendly, vacant. That's a kunoichi's smile.

Sakura's mother doesn't like Tenten. She's almost practically sure it's not even personal. From what Sakura told her, her mother isn't the biggest fan of her daughter's career choice. She's apparently convinced it's just a phase Sakura will grow out of, and Tenten isn't being very helpful with that, with the intense training and the survival advices and the friendship.

Tenten's existence itself is a pain to Mrs. Haruno's plans. Not like she's used to that.

"Good morning, Haruno-san!" She smiles brightly. Tenten isn't unfamiliar with kunoichi's smiles either. "Sakura is expecting me!"

A big, fat lie if there ever was one. But it could be true, and Mrs. Haruno holds on too tightly to her pleasant politeness to call her out on it. "Of course, Tenten-chan." She opens the door wider with barely noticable reluctance. "Please, come in."

Tenten cheerfully enters, and because she's kind of a little shit too, she waves down when she climbs the stairs to the nightmare of pink Sakura calls her room. Her friend doesn't greet her when she enters the bedroom, even though she must know Tenten is here. She better, at least, with all the time they worked on her nearly nonexistent awareness for danger.

Obviously Tenten counts as  _danger_. She's worked hard enough for that.

There is no visible Sakura, but there  _is_  a barely noticeable rippling in the air, a sweet tingling at the edges of her senses. Well, well, well. Someone has been keeping up with her lessons. Good job.

"Nice!" Tenten laughs as she dispels the genjutsu. "Very nice!"

"It took you three seconds to spot the illusion." Sakura pouts from the window she's sitting by, the genjutsu book Tenten found for her held open in her hands.

"Yeah, but I was looking for it." She shrugs before throwing herself on the bed. "You've been working on genjutsu for what, three days? You're really good, Sakura! Soon enough you will proficient enough to give  _me_ lessons. Genjutsu really isn't my forte, haha!"

Illusions require nothing less than precise chakra control, florid imagination, acute understanding of the human mind, and endless patience. Not exactly qualities Tenten has in abundance. Sakura, however? Sakura's meticulous brain has been made for intellectual stuff like that.

"It's not going to help me to fight against Sasuke-kun, though." Sakura turns her head to the side, trying without success to hide the blooming blush on her cheeks. "The Sharingan isn't going to be fooled by my amateurish genjutsu."

"Okay, first of all, you're not an amateur, we talked about that," Tenten tuts disapprovingly as she leans on her elbows on the bed. "And as far as I know, Sasuke isn't a master at using the Sharingan either, so there. And secondly, I'm aiming farther than that. This isn't about Sasuke. This is about  _you_!"

Tenten isn't helping Sakura for the only purpose of getting her to take down Sasuke a peg or two, although it would be nice bonus. She started training her because kunoichi need all the assistance they can get, and clearly Sakura wasn't getting any of that from her own teacher. And she keeps doing it, despite the fact Sakura hardly requires the help anymore, because she  _likes_ her.

It's a nice to have a female friend around. Tenten doesn't have lots of those. Other girls consider her a weirdo for being passionate about weapons and martial arts and not giving a fuck about boys and fashionable outfits. Actually, it's nice a have a friend around,  _period_. Lee and Neji are her teammates, and she kind of sort of loves them or whatever, even though they're both massive idiots in their own right, but it's not exactly the same.

The point is that none of this is about Uchiha Sasuke  _at all_  and Sakura should just accept the fact her self-worth isn't defined by the way her crush sees her already.

"Just think of how much easier it will be to defeat Lee now!" Tenten cackles as she rolls on her back. "You're gonna crush him next time."

"Well," Sakura admits, voice quivering with reluctance. "It would feel a bit…dishonest to use genjutsu against Lee-san?"

"For fuck's sake." Tenten's head turns down at the edge of the bed. An upside down glare can't look very impressive, but damn if she isn't going to try. "Look, there is no such thing as honor for a shinobi. Lee's enemies aren't going to refrain using their own jutsu because it's  _unfair_. They're going to exploit the hell out of his weaknesses. You'll do him a favor by training him to expel genjutsu. And he'll be offended if you hold back."

Sakura tilts her head to the side pensively. "Oh. I guess you're right?"

"Tell me something I don't know." She smirks cockily.

Tenten avoids the pillow Sakura throws at her face without missing a beat. She's not a goddamn ninja for nothing. This is fun, she thinks as she retaliates with her own pillow. She's having  _fun_  and it's nice. Very nice. The kind of nice she should know better than to take for granted.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sakura rolls her eyes as she dodges the kunai Tenten hid behind her pillow attack. "We're not supposed to train together today, right?"

Well. No. But isn't Tenten allowed to see her friend outside of training sessions? Okay, that's a bit hypocritical coming from her, since everything is an excuse for training in her books and she's been called a sadistic bitch many times before, admittedly not without reasons.

But.

Her mother was gone and she was lonely. She says: "I was bored. Do you mind?"

"Oh. Of course not! I'm always happy to see you, senpai!" Sakura smiles brightly.

Fuck you all, Tenten is a tough ninja and she  _isn't crying inside dammit_.

.  
.

"No."

"What,  _no_? I've literally said nothing yet."

"No need. You want me to train with your little civilian protegee."

"First of all, how dare you. She's a legit shinobi, you dick."

"It doesn't matter. The answer is still no. I have no time to lose with hopeless and useless little girls."

"Neji. I'm asking for  _one hour_ of your week. One hour! Why are you like this."

"My 'tragic sob story and the stick shoved up my ass,' according to you."

"You're not being fair; I said I was sorry a hundred times already! Fine, how about five explosive tags of my own creation for a weekly two hours of training?"

"I'm not so easily bought."

"Pff. Liar, you are a sucker for my tags. Ten tags."

"... Twenty tags for one hour."

"Eighteen tags for an hour and a half, and you have to at least try not to be a asshole to her."

"Fifteen tags for an hour, final offer. I make no promises regarding my behavior."

"Deal. I don't have that high of expectations about you anyway, to be honest."

.  
.

Hospitals. What is it with hospitals? Tenten always ends up there, one way or another. She could be enjoying a well-deserved bath to wash out the grime of her last mission, or just get some sleep. Sleep is good. Sleep is  _awesome_ , and she wishes she and her bed had more regular encounters.

But no. It is not to be. Instead, Tenten, dirty, exhausted, hungry, with a weeks worth of dirt between her toes and two sleepless nights hanging underneath her eye sockets, sits by an injured friend's bedside, once again.

It's almost funny, in a way. Sakura and her met in this hospital—well,  _truly_ met—and here they are again. Her friend looks small, as small as she did when she tried to rein her tears back in that waiting room. There's an IV slided in her vein, a flowery pink gown resting loosely over her shoulders and a huge, horrifying dark red burn running from her shoulder to her wrist, extending to her left side.

Tenten is trying very hard not to look at the burn.

The heart monitor beeps regularly with Sakura's steady heartbeat. Tenten says, "Yo. Wassup, girl."

Sakura bursts out laughing. It is a borderline hysterical kind of laugh, but Tenten knows how to appreciate the victories she can get. "P-peachy!" Sakura manages to hiccup eventually. "I am doing extremely great, as you can see!"

Her smile, a huge, contorted, painful looking grin, stretches her lips awkwardly. Tenten can't help but think, 'Thank god that bastard didn't get her face,' and hates herself for it. That's the kind of relieved thought Sakura's mom probably would have had.

"Cool." Tenten blinks. "Because I'm exhausted and I pretty sure I stink like squirrel entrails. Please don't ask."

"Oh." Sakura's frankly scary smile settles into a pensive frown. "Right! How did your mission go? Did you just get back? You should go rest, senpai. I can wait, you kno—"

"Sakura," Tenten interjects firmly. "Don't be silly. You're in the hospital. Of course I'll come right away. I'm just sorry I couldn't be there sooner."

When she grasps her hand, the right, uninjured one, Sakura's bottom lip quivers. Tenten is almost relieved to see tears roll on her unhealthily pale cheeks.

"He's gone," Sakura breathes, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Just like that.  _He's gone_."

Tenten knows. The news of the last Uchiha's defection had reached her two towns before she finally got back in Konoha. Nobody had said a thing about the clanless, civilian born teammate wounded by his hand until she got to the Hokage Tower for reporting.

Nobody cares about one silly, unimportant, useless kunoichi getting burnt. Tenten does, though. Tenten cares.  _A lot_.

"It's not your fault." Tenten's hand rests on her pale shoulder. "It's  _not_."

"I tried to stop him. But I failed. Of course I failed. I'm so pathetic."

Contrary to what people might think, Tenten didn't actually hate Sasuke before. Sure, she wasn't very fond of his attitude, the arrogance and complete inability to understand what the word 'team' meant, but on the other hand, she admired his capacity to keep going despite his dire circumstances. It's not like assholery ever stopped Tenten from appreciating someone.

Right now, though. Right now, she  _loathes_  the very thought of Uchiha Sasuke.

Traitors are already shitty enough in her book. Traitors who get her friend hurt on purpose and step over all the progress she had made with her sense of self-worth are the fucking worst.

"Sakura. You're not pathetic." She's not. Sakura is smart, talented, strong. She only needs a little push to become great, the kind of great people will talk about in a hundred years. It's obvious. So why is Tenten the only one to see it?

"He looked so surprised when I tried to fight him," Sakura adds wistfully. "I don't think he meant to actually wound me."

Tenten snorts. Of course he hadn't. It's not like Sasuke has any idea who Sakura really is. He only sees the useless fangirl instead of the powerful woman she's quickly blossoming into. He might be called a genius and have the Sharingan, but it doesn't change the fact Sasuke only sees what Sasuke wants to see. Right now, he sees that neither his homeland nor his comrades are worth his attention.

And so Sakura stares at the white wall of the burn ward while Neji lays motionless in the intense reanimation unit. Tenten had rushed at his side first. Waited by his bed for an half-hour, staring at nothing as the clock and various monitors ticked, until the staff politely asked her to leave. They said Neji would wake up, too. They just didn't know when.

Tenten hates Uchiha Sasuke like she has never hated anyone in her life. But it's probably nothing compared the rage he feels for his brother. What's the meaning of a village when everyone you love is dead?

 _That's not a fucking excuse_ , the vicious, possessive beast nested in her chest hisses.  _Traitors deserve to die._

"I broke his nose," Sakura whispers like it's a secret. "I…broke his nose.  _I_  did."

A crooked grin appears on Tenten's face as she leans forwards, her hand reaching up to gently ruffle pink strands. Mentoring is exhausting, to be honest. Tenten finds herself worrying, like, all the time. Makes her feel like she's old already.

But. The rewards make it worth the suffering.

"That's my girl."

Then, after a moment, she adds viciously: "Next time break his legs, too."

"Senpai!"

**Author's Note:**

> so technically there should be other chapters with Hinata and Ino. Unfortunately I'll be extremely busy until June, so it may not happen before then, or ever. We'll see^^
> 
> Please leave a comment on your way, it's always appreciated!
> 
> I can be found in this Naruto discord server [Genjutsu Support Group](https://discord.gg/cEE8Rj8) if you want to talk to me, or just hang out with cool people.  
> EDIT: I have time to manage it now so I'm opening my cave, sorry, writing discord server to everyone who wants to join. If you wanna yell at me directly, this is the place: https://discord.gg/cb2Csvv  
> I can be found in both^^


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